Exodus
by Kurai Tenshi
Summary: PG for DEATH! And sadness. Yes, this fic is a major tearjerker...especially at the end. Originally "Nose Dive's Exodus".


_Disclaimer_: I do not own Mighty Ducks. Disney does, and you can go ahead and watch it on Toon Disney.

_Author's Note_: Death. Isn't it so wonderful? Yes, I am being sarcastic. Read this if you wish. It's really, really, really, really, really, _really _sad. Nose Dive lovers don't have to read it if they don't want to, but Nose Dive's my favorite character and I killed him because of that reason. So, as you can already tell, it's sad. Get a tissue ready, because I cried while writing this without knowing it. No flames, please, since this is my first fic.

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            It had been a frightful battle. There had been death left and right, front and back. Dragaunus had been slain. But things were not joyous that day. Grin, who had destroyed Dragaunus with his own bare hands, had died moments after the victory. Tanya had died in an explosion, and Nose Dive had been run through with cannon's energy beam.

            The youngest member of the Mighty Ducks lay dying in his brother's arms. Wildwing stared down at his sibling, hot tears of both sadness and fury blinding his vision. Duke and Mallory stood by, both of them in a painful, awkward silence.

            Nose Dive gave a ragged sigh and looked up at his brother's face, smiling weakly. "Hey, big bro, why the tears?" he whispered, trying to keep up his carefree self, even if he was slowly passing away.

            Wildwing coughed, trying to push down the lump in his throat, before answering. "I'm sorry, Dive, I should've been protecting you. Now you're going to…to…"

            "Die? Yeah, well, things happen. You couldn't stop that cannon," Nose Dive replied, still smiling.

            "It feels like it's all my fault. I should've been there. You're my little brother, Nose Dive, and I don't want to lose you."

            "Look on the bright side of things: at least you're still alive. You and Duke and Mal. Cherish the fact you're still living, and don't forget those who died fighting. Oh, and when you get home, can you do me one favor?"

            "Anything."

            "Well, you know that goalie mask I've always wanted to wear?"

            "Yeah."

            "Well, can you put it on the table in the living room so that when I return as a ghost to look after you guys, I don't have to sneak into your room and wake you up and scare you out of your wits?"

            Wildwing couldn't help but give a small laugh. "Sure I will. And I'll get everyone to build a monument that portrays all of us."

            Nose Dive shook his head as hard as he could, frowning. "All I want is for you guys to remember me and Grin and Tanya."

            "Sure thing, little brother."

            Nose Dive smiled again. He looked past his brother's shoulder at the faces of his remaining friends. "Hey guys. You won't forget me, will you?"

            "No," Duke and Mallory replied together.

            "Great! You and Wildwing take care of each other, okay Mal? And I hope your reputation as a thief has vanished, Duke. I'll send you all a postcard when I get up there where the Big Duck sits, as soon as I can find some stamps. Hey, maybe I'll meet Drake Ducaine and the others before us. And Grin and Tanya."

            Wildwing smiled at his brother. "I won't need a postcard, mind you." He then sighed, and the smile vanished. "I wish you can live to see another day, Dive. It doesn't feel right when you die and I live."

            Nose Dive continued smiling, though it was a small one. "Don't worry, bro. Just do me one more thing. Turn me so I can face the direction of the Pond before I play my last game, will you?"

            Wildwing obliged. With the help of Duke and Mallory, he gently turned his brother to face west. "Better?" Duke asked.

            "Yeah," Nose Dive replied, his eyes closing. "I can see it all now. I'm in my Mighty Ducks uniform, playing my last game…"

            And so he was. With the darkness slowly enveloping his mind, he skated on the ice of the hockey rink back on his own planet, only in his Mighty Ducks uniform, facing a team unlike any other, striving for that one last goal…

            Wildwing cried openly for the first time in ten years, cradling his brother's limp body, holding it close to him, as he rocked back and forth. His only brother and possibly his only living relative had just passed on to a better life.

            "Nose Dive…" Wildwing sobbed. "Rest in peace, my brother."

            The three remaining members of the Mighty Ducks buried their dead companions' bodies at the base of a large tree.

            "Now I'm all alone," Wildwing whispered.

            "Oh, but you're not," Mallory replied, putting a hand on his arm.

            Duke nodded. "You have us."


End file.
